Outside Listening In
“I never met my father,” Daniel said.
“That’s why I like CRF so much.”
“I was an orphan,… I never even saw a picture of my dad. All I know is that he told my mother before he died— ‘Get this boy an education!’”
Daniel Chengo’s mother did everything that she could to send him to school. With huge sacrifices, she helped Daniel get through the fourth grade. But by the time he got to the fifth grade, tuition increased and they were out of money. Daniel went to school anyway.
He sat in the classroom until he was chased out of class for not paying his fees.
But Daniel didn’t go away.
Every single day, he would arrive and sit outside the window of the schoolhouse in a place where no one could see him. And he would pay attention to every word the teacher would say. At the end of the year, each student had to take a national exam to progress to the next grade. Daniel asked his teacher if he could take the test. But the teacher said that he couldn’t take the test because he did not go to school.
Daniel then confessed that he had been hiding outside the window and listening all year. Still his teacher told him that he would never pass.
Daniel asked, “What would you do if I passed?” His teacher, confident that Daniel would never pass, said, “I would sponsor you to go to school.”
So Daniel passed.
In fact, he scored the highest score in the class. And the teacher kept his word and sponsored Daniel’s continuing education.
And Daniel’s education paid off. Years later Daniel became the principal of a school that provided a quality education for over 1200 students. Then he became the leader of a Christian college. Next he directed Uzima School which trains and educates some of the most dynamic and influential ministers and Christian leaders in Kenya. He also partners with Mike Thethe, who directs our CRF program in Malindi, Kenya.
I started thinking about what would have happened if Daniel hadn’t been sponsored.
If Daniel hadn’t been sponsored, thousands and thousands of other children wouldn’t have been educated or trained for Christian leadership.
Daniel is a living example of the value of child sponsorship. Mike, Daniel and Stephen Thethe (Mike’s brother) are doing an outstanding job for CRF in educating children in Malindi, Kenya. They have 240 orphans in the program now. But they also have over 200 waiting to be sponsored.
Could one of them be the next Daniel Chengo?
